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The Oklahoma Marriage Initiative : the promise and challenge of using volunteers to provide community-based marriage education

DECEMBER 2008
THE OKLAHOMA MARRIAGE INITIATIVE
The Promise and Challenge of Using Volunteers to Provide Community-Based Marriage Education
The goal of the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative (OMI) is to make information about the skills needed to build and sustain healthy marriages broadly available throughout the state. To pursue the mission of changing the culture of marriage and divorce, OMI leaders decided to engage the support of grass-roots volunteers in communities across the state. By the end of 2007 over 120,000 individuals had participated in OMI marriage education workshops. Overall, workshops and large-scale events offered through the community sector account for about a quarter of the OMI’s productivity, including six percent of OMI workshop participants who were served by the faith sector. While other briefs in this series focus on implementation of the OMI in public agencies, this brief focuses on one smaller piece of the overall initiative: how the OMI has recruited and mobilized a volunteer workforce—in the broader public and in the faith community—to provide marriage education services in local communities. It also highlights the role of large, regional one-day community events in introducing and stimulating interest in OMI workshops.
The OMI seeks to engage both the public and private sector in efforts to strengthen marriage throughout the state. In the public sector, OMI staff provide training and resources to staff at educational, correctional, human services, and health agencies that provide marriage education as part of their services. The focus of this brief is on efforts to engage the private sector in furthering the goals of the OMI. In particular, the brief explores work with the faith community as well as broader efforts that include members of the general public.
ABOUT THIS
RESEARCH BRIEF
This ASPE Research Brief describes lessons learned during the establishment of the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative, drawing on findings from an in-depth process evaluation conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. under contract to ASPE. This brief was prepared by Robin Dion and Sarah Avellar. Other briefs focus on other aspects of the OMI’s implementation, including its successes and challenges, and strategies used to address obstacles encountered.
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
US Department of Health and Human Services
Washington, DC 20201

DECEMBER 2008
THE OKLAHOMA MARRIAGE INITIATIVE
The Promise and Challenge of Using Volunteers to Provide Community-Based Marriage Education
The goal of the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative (OMI) is to make information about the skills needed to build and sustain healthy marriages broadly available throughout the state. To pursue the mission of changing the culture of marriage and divorce, OMI leaders decided to engage the support of grass-roots volunteers in communities across the state. By the end of 2007 over 120,000 individuals had participated in OMI marriage education workshops. Overall, workshops and large-scale events offered through the community sector account for about a quarter of the OMI’s productivity, including six percent of OMI workshop participants who were served by the faith sector. While other briefs in this series focus on implementation of the OMI in public agencies, this brief focuses on one smaller piece of the overall initiative: how the OMI has recruited and mobilized a volunteer workforce—in the broader public and in the faith community—to provide marriage education services in local communities. It also highlights the role of large, regional one-day community events in introducing and stimulating interest in OMI workshops.
The OMI seeks to engage both the public and private sector in efforts to strengthen marriage throughout the state. In the public sector, OMI staff provide training and resources to staff at educational, correctional, human services, and health agencies that provide marriage education as part of their services. The focus of this brief is on efforts to engage the private sector in furthering the goals of the OMI. In particular, the brief explores work with the faith community as well as broader efforts that include members of the general public.
ABOUT THIS
RESEARCH BRIEF
This ASPE Research Brief describes lessons learned during the establishment of the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative, drawing on findings from an in-depth process evaluation conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. under contract to ASPE. This brief was prepared by Robin Dion and Sarah Avellar. Other briefs focus on other aspects of the OMI’s implementation, including its successes and challenges, and strategies used to address obstacles encountered.
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
US Department of Health and Human Services
Washington, DC 20201